By Anthony O. Goriainoff
Wizz Air Holdings PLC said Wednesday that it expects its operating loss for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022 to be slightly wider than that reported in the third quarter due to the war in Ukraine.
The London-listed, Eastern Europe-focused budget airline said it experienced a 2% fall in flights in February, and that it expects this to rise to 7% in March. However, it noted that this commercial impact is being partly offset by an improving post-Covid-19 trading environment.
The company suspended all flights to Ukraine and Russia following the country’s invasion by Russian forces, and said it will continue to review the suspensions as the situation unfolds.
The airline added that it will make adjustments to its flight network in the first quarter of fiscal 2023 to mitigate the impact of the crisis, and that it has an evacuation plan ready to remove its assets from Ukraine when safe to do so.
“We continue to work through the operational challenges arising from the crisis in Ukraine and we are redistributing capacity to routes and bases where we can drive demand in line with our proven ultra low cost carrier model,” Chief Executive Jozsef Varadi said.
Shares at 1233 GMT were up 81 pence, or 2.7%, at 3,095 pence.
Write to Anthony O. Goriainoff at anthony.orunagoriainoff@dowjones.com